Good Morning, SPN Family!
As I said in my last story, I have some weird shit coming at you. Quarantine did crazy things to my brain (still is, in fact. Fun times.) Here's a story that came out of that.
Thank you to all who take the time to read and review. I've recently gotten several lovely reviews from a guest, and since I can't answer directly if you don't have an account, I'll try to answer here. I really only post every 3-4 weeks, and I have a TERRIBLE turn around time from guest requests. I've had several requests for more Baby Nat recently, so I'll see what I can boil up for those. But I currently have at least 5 stories that I'm working on currently including 2 new case stories. If you can be patient and stick with me, your request will come up, I promise.
Special thanks to Jenmm31 for being the coolest most best note-giver and friend ever!
A/N- in this story, Natalie is 14
"Alright gang. You remember the plan?"
Natalie nodded absentmindedly, patting down her pockets to make sure she had everything. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Dean looking at her sternly. She stopped and gave him her full attention. "Yes, sir," she answered in a rush. Crap. He never liked it when she didn't instantly reply verbally. "Sorry," she mumbled.
"Sorry ain't gonna cut it on this one, kid," Dean scolded, already pissed. Natalie felt the blood rushing to her cheeks. It got even worse when Sam turned to glare at her as well. She bit her tongue and looked down at her shoes. Here it comes, she thought to herself. Dean fixed her with a narrowed gaze. "Natalie, I have told you over and over. You. Must. Stay. Focused."
"I am!"
"You couldn't even remember to respond to me two seconds ago."
"I was…um…"
"Distracted by checking your pockets. Yeah. I know. Another word for that is unfocused. Not gonna fly here. You wanna stay in the car on this one?"
Natalie's head popped up, her eyes wide with horror. "No! C'mon Dad, please! I'm sorry. I'm focused, I swear. I'm focused," she pleaded. She forced herself to meet his angry look with her soldier-at-the-ready one. She'd only gotten a few chances to prove herself since royally getting her ass busted back in Sioux Falls a couple months back for hunting solo without permission, and she was determined that she was going to focus this time. She didn't want a repeat of the werewolf in the woods incident either, even though that hadn't really been her fault. She mentally cursed herself. She ALWAYS knew to reply verbally to Dean. What a stupid thing to get in trouble for and get Dean's red flags up before they even started. She took a deep breath, throwing every ounce of focus she had inside her into her look.
Dean sighed heavily, his eyes still narrowed. "You better be," he threatened. He broke the gaze and seemed to collect himself. "Alright. Tell me the plan," he said, his look now calm. Sam tilted his chin up at her, waiting for her to answer as well.
Natalie swallowed hard, and then nodded once firmly. "Okay. Coven of witches inside, getting ready to cast darkness on the town. We're breaking into the building undetected. Dad, you and me are taking the north entrance, Uncle Sam, you're taking the southeast corner." She paused briefly to see how she was doing. Dean gave her a nod- she was right on the money. She continued. "On Dad's signal, you two ambush them. I'm supposed to stay hidden." She couldn't help the tiny modicum of bitterness in her voice, which of course Sam locked onto immediately.
"And why are you staying hidden?" Sam asked in his patronizing tones that were only reserved for when she was in trouble. They'd gone around about this earlier today, and of course, she lost. She barely refrained from rolling her eyes as she answered.
"Because if things go south and you both end up getting hit with spells, you need a ringer that the witches don't know is there to help you."
"Good. I'm glad you listened. Are we finally done arguing about this?" Sam asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Glad to hear it. Go on."
"So you two will immobilize the witches-"
"Sammy, you take the closest one, I've got the other two," Dean interrupted. Sam gave him the typical bitch face.
"Dean, stop trying to protect me by taking on more than me," Sam complained.
"It's my job to protect you," Dean said firmly to his little brother, before turning back to his daughter. "Kid. Continue."
"If you can't immobilize the witches, or if you're both down, only THEN do I step in," Natalie said, trying to keep her voice neutral with a side-glance at Sam. Sam recovered from his own over-protectiveness enough to nod once encouragingly at her. "Once the witches are no longer in the game, I find their spell book, wrap it up in this." At that, she pulled a long piece of white cloth out of her pocket and held it out to them.
"Exactly," Dean said. "Now remind me what this is and what it does."
Natalie felt her hands go clammy. Oh crap, she thought. Dammit, what's this thing called? She was supposed to discuss it in that report Dean was making her do, but she couldn't pull it to her mind instantly. She had only grazed the name of the cloth at most when researching, and to be honest, hadn't actually done the report. Sweat drops the size of bullets threatened to form on her forehead as she struggled to remember what it was. If she couldn't, Dean was going to pull her off the case for sure.
Suddenly, in one glorious burst of inspiration, the name came to her mind. "Cheese cloth!" she said triumphantly, before clearing her throat and trying to look casual and not just-pulled-that-out-of-my-ass about it. "Uh, it's a cheese cloth," she said lackadaisically. "Sprayed with Holy Water and salt. That'll keep any protection spells at bay, as well as keep me safe when I make contact with it." Whew, close one, Natalie thought to herself. Luckily, the pause wasn't nearly as long in real life as it had been in her head, and the boys didn't notice anything unusual.
"Good. Glad to see you did your work, kiddo," Dean said. Natalie begged her face to remain impassive at the compliment. She instantly felt guilty about having fooled her father, but she couldn't dwell on that now. She had work to do. "Alright," Dean said, looking Sam square in the eye. "Let's move out." Sam nodded back once. All three Winchesters put on their game faces and parted ways.
Dean was in the lead, Natalie staying close behind like he taught her. All of them had witch killing bullets in their guns, flasks full of holy water, salt, you name it; If it could kill or stop a witch or a spell, they were locked and loaded. Keeping her gun at the ready, Natalie moved on the balls of her feet silently, adopting that hunter's tread that was almost second nature to her at this point. See? Screw that report, she thought confidently to herself. She knew what she was doing.
They got around to the side of the building they were supposed to be infiltrating. Dean pointed a finger at the door. That was her signal to get picking on the lock. She pulled her kit out of her pocket and went to work. In a couple moments, she was rewarded with a turning doorknob. Sam would be proud.
Dean once again took the lead as they headed into the warehouse. This was the main entrance that the witches used when coming here. Since it was a small coven, it was pretty easy to track where they were going. Natalie willed herself into total concentration as she followed Dean, making her footsteps as light as possible. He made a quick gesture to her to take cover behind a set of metal shelves littered with shipping supplies. She nodded once, slipping into the shadows and looking for a good vantage point to watch the rest of the room from.
Creeping a bit further down, she found the perfect spot. There was a small opening between crates on the fourth shelf up. An upturned crate was on the ground near it. Natalie picked up the crate and set it down oh-so-gently right underneath the open space. She tested its durability with her foot first, and then stepped up onto it so she could actually see. Damn whatever gene she missed out on, not getting the Winchester height and being so freaking short.
The shadows conveniently fell right across her face, so even though she had a perfectly good view of the entire room, she was still in darkness. She mentally patted herself on the back for being awesome. Clearly, she hadn't missed out on ALL the Winchester genes.
Watching silently, she could just make out Dean's outline, taking refuge behind a tower of cardboard boxes. She saw him crane his neck and nod once towards the southwest corner. He must have had a sightline on Sam, and was acknowledging his presence.
An eerie purple light crept out from underneath one of the warehouse doors. Natalie got a good grip on her gun and evened out her breathing. This was it. The door slid open, and the three witches came out, all looking a little worse for the wear, but still glowing with power. They were unsuspecting. Now was the time.
As one, Sam and Dean moved, each firing at a witch. Almost as if they were expecting it, the three women turned and began screaming phrases in Latin. Natalie watched as Dean dodged a shaft of rancid green light. It hit the tower of crates he'd been hiding behind. They exploded with a reverberating crack, sending wooden splinters shooting through the air like bullets. She saw a couple slice marks into Dean's face before feeling a couple splinters lodge themselves into the shins of her jeans. She almost gasped in shock, but managed to pull it back at the last second.
Sam got a clear shot and nailed one of the witches in her right arm, twice. She shrieked in pain, collapsing backwards, and clutching her arm. Natalie bit her lip nervously. She knew Sam had witch-killing bullets in his gun, but…did he need to make a critical hit to a vital organ or something? Would the arm do? She couldn't remember. It was in that report she was supposed to have done but….
A sudden, blinding flash of orange light brought her back to the present. She squinted her eyes against the brightness, irritated that she hadn't seen it coming. Shit, maybe Dean was on to something with always telling her to focus. Once her eyes had adjusted, she was horrified to see that Sam was frozen, suspended in midair. One of the witches that hadn't been harmed had both her hands extended towards him, and a look of pure evil concentration on her face as she held Sam aloft. Natalie had to bite down hard on her tongue to remind herself of her place in this fight. She was to stay hidden unless both brothers were incapacitated. So where the hell was Dean?
On cue, Dean fired off a couple rounds from the shelves he was taking refuge behind. He couldn't really get a good sight on them, but he was also the best damn shot in the world, so Natalie wasn't too worried. However, the other witch shut her eyes, almost in a peaceful way, and held up her hand. The bullets stopped midair, right before they got to the witches, and froze. They fell impotently to the ground.
"You know, not everything can be solved with bullets, Dean Winchester," she said in a tone that was significantly deeper than Natalie had been expecting. It was almost like the witch was in a Zen state- she sounded so calm. And then it registered. The witch knew his name. She knew they had been coming. Natalie tensed, waiting for Dean's response.
"I dunno," came Dean's snarky response. "It's worked out pretty well for me so far, so…" A grunt of pain from Sam cut off the rest of Dean's sentence. "Let him go," Dean said, his own tone dropping to the dangerous level. It still sent a shiver through Natalie, even though it wasn't directed at her.
"Really?" the other witch said, almost laughing. "Sam shoots my sister, you threaten to kill me and my mother, and I'm just going to let Sam go because you said so? Good gods I thought you were intelligent."
"Nope. He's the brains. Just the brawn over here. So unless you want me to turn you inside out, I suggest you LET HIM GO."
The older, calmer witch gave a throaty chuckle. "Dean, it's hunters like you that give us a bad name," she said in a simpering, deep tone.
"Oh yeah. My bad," Dean responded, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Totally my fault everyone hates you. I mean, you're trying to damn the town into eternal darkness, but no no, I see your point. You're right, I'm the vermin here."
"Vermin," the witch said, her voice slipping into a touch of undercurrent. "Interesting choice of words."
"Would you prefer Tree Hugging Whore Bags?"
Natalie watched the older witch's eyes narrow menacingly. Natalie gripped her gun tightly, knowing that Dean had finally pissed her off enough into action. But before she could even so much as blink, the witch murmured something so low, Natalie couldn't hear. There was a bang of yellow light, right where Dean's voice had been a moment ago. Natalie's heart stopped- what had that damn bitch done to Dean?!
A small movement at the base of the shelves where Dean had been hiding caught her attention. Something was moving down there, but in the dim shadows, Natalie couldn't tell what it was. It moved slowly, inching forward until it stumbled into the light. Natalie's eyes nearly fell out of her head.
Dean Winchester had been turned into a ferret.
The older witch laughed that throaty, menacing chuckle again, having regained her sense of calm. She walked towards Dean…the ferret…Ferret Dean with a purpose. Natalie turned around, breathing shallowly, as she pressed her back up against the metal shelves. Oh shit. They had never covered this in training. What the hell did you do if your commanding officer had been turned into a ferret?
Swallowing hard and willing herself to get a grip, Natalie turned back around. The older witch had Dean by the scruff, and it was obvious he was trying to put up a hell of a fight, wriggling and snapping his tiny jaws at her. "Who's the vermin now?" she purred as she held Dean an arm's length away from herself. He tried to swipe and bite at her to no avail. Her eyes drifted lazily over to her daughter, who still had Sam suspended in the air. "Why don't you have fun with him, dear?" she said sweetly.
The younger witch giggled, only too happy to obey her mother's wishes. "Oh, Sammy boy," she trilled, focusing on the younger brother. "Look at you floating up there. You look almost graceful." Natalie could see Sam's eyes narrow a bit, but apparently that was the only thing he could control- he couldn't move a muscle. "I think there's only one thing that could make your look more complete. Even more graceful." She waved her hand dramatically. Sam instantly sprouted glittery butterfly wings from his back. Natalie's jaw dropped.
The young witch tilted her head to the side. "No, I don't think that quite does it," she said in a singsong voice. Waving her hand again, Sam's dark blue flannel suddenly changed into a baby pink leotard, complete with tutu and pointe shoes. Upon realizing what he was now wearing, Sam's face turned bright red as he struggled to break the bind to no avail. The older witch gave a bark of appreciative laughter, and even the flailing ferret in her hand seemed to stop and chuckle for a second. "Almost complete," the young witch murmured, and waved her hand a third time. Sam's hair suddenly fashioned itself into springy curls and a tiara materialized on his head. "Ah. Perfect."
Another wave of her hand, and Sam was prancing around the warehouse, doing pirouettes and leaps, looking surprisingly graceful. Natalie's brow wrinkled in complete and total confusion. She could see the look of consternation on Sam's face, but he was obviously powerless to stop it. He looked like a bad mash up of the Jolly Green Giant and some Barbie Fairy Princess. What the actual fuck?!
Natalie suddenly realized that she was up to bat. Both Winchesters were immobilized, and she was the only hope for saving them all now. For saving Ferret Dean and Ballerina Sam. Gripping her gun tightly, she stepped out of the shadows, pointing at the younger witch. The woman was completely focused on Sam- she didn't see Natalie at all. Natalie inhaled to mutter a counter curse that would undo the spells…and couldn't remember the words. She frantically wracked her brain. What were they? WHAT WERE THEY? She should know them like the back of her hand…Dean had told her to study them for her witchcraft report…. but she hadn't. She could use her…wait…what was it she was supposed to use? She couldn't remember anything.
She suddenly felt her body freeze up and whip around to face the older witch. "Oh, my dear," she said in a warm tone that didn't match the evil look on her face. "You really should have studied more. Maybe done that report that your father wanted you to do. Ah well. Lesson learned." A cruel grin broke across the woman's face. "I've always wanted to try this."
To Natalie's horror, a large green gelatinous cube suddenly started oozing through the shelves, making its way straight towards her with indecent haste. She couldn't scream, she couldn't move, she couldn't even breathe. The green cube got closer and closer. She felt it press into her face, and everything went black.
"And that-" Castiel said, stepping out of the blackness and waving his hand, returning them to the motel room they were staying in. "-is what will happen if I get you out of writing this report on witchcraft." He nodded to himself, satisfied that the vision he had conjured for Natalie had found its mark.
Natalie sat at the table in the room, her head resting on her fist and her eyebrow arched as high as it could possibly go. "Really?" she asked as dryly as she knew how to. "Really, Cas? A giant gelatinous cube is going to overtake me in the next hunt if I don't write this stupid report?"
"Yes."
"Dude, look. I know you love Disney Plus and that movie is really super cute, and yes, I get all the parallels, but…really? You don't think you're exaggerating just a tad?"
"No, I do not."
"You honestly think that I would forget literally everything that I have ever learned on witchcraft just because I don't do this report? That my brains would automatically turn to oatmeal, just because I don't want to study?"
"It could happen. You know that Dean wants you to do this report in order to help solidify the knowledge in your mind. That's why it's important."
"Okay. You know what? Not even gonna argue with you on this. The rest of it was just too good. You almost lost me on turning Dad into a ferret, but I have to say, you got me back with what you had the one witch do to Uncle Sam. The tiara was a nice touch."
"Thank you."
"Also- why did you have Uncle Sam shoot the other witch twice in the arm? Once would have done it."
"Because I couldn't remember myself if the witch killing bullets that Sam created would kill without hitting a vital organ."
"AH! So in this case, I actually know MORE than you about the subject. I think that proves my point."
"You fail to remember that I can kill with the touch of my hand. You cannot. And you can't honestly tell me that you knew the answers to every single thing that came up in that scenario instantly." Pause. "Exactly."
"You still don't have me convinced that you getting me out of this report is a bad idea."
"You want to be swallowed by a gelatinous cube?"
"No…that's…. you can't know that that's what will happen!"
"Prove to me that it will not."
Silence again.
"Fine. I get it, alright? I'll write the stupid report."
"Good," Castiel said. "Next time you ask me to come to you, please try to make it less taxing on my creativity."
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Natalie said sarcastically. "I'll only tax your creativity for the good stuff from here on out."
"Thank you," Cas said sincerely, completely missing the point as usual. He disappeared without another word. Natalie just sighed and pulled the giant book that Dean had left for her towards herself, and began to study.